The surface of the small intestinal lining is only one cell layer thick. When this delicate surface is damaged, we suddenly have hostile elements “leaking” into our bloodstream and spreading inflammation throughout the brain and body.

Allowing even the tiniest amount of these contents to leak into the bloodstream is enormously unhealthy.

So how do you know if this applies to you?

Signs and Symptoms

Constipation

We all know that horrible feeling of sitting on the toilet unable to poop. As time ticks, you begin to feel more uncomfortable, even embarrassed.

A bowel movement occurs when the food you eat passes through the digestive system. Your body takes the nutrients it needs from the food. What’s left over is called stool.

Constipation is the common condition that makes it difficult to have a bowel movement.

Chronic Constipation: Probable Causes

Not Eating Enough Fiber

Not Drinking Enough Water

Flora Wars: Out of Balance Gut Bacteria

Certain Medications

Too Much Supplemental Calcium or Iron

Eating Too Much Dairy

Eating Too Much Sugar & Unhealthy Fats

Depression

Lack of Physical Activity

Laxative Abuse

Common Symptom: Diarrhea

When you have diarrhea, your bowel movements are loose, watery and most often, urgent.

Diarrhea is common and usually not serious, normally lasting a few days then disappearing on its own. Pharmacies sell over-the-counter medicines that treat bouts of diarrhea.

Diarrhea: Probable Causes

Alcohol abuse

Allergies to certain foods

Diabetes

Diseases of the intestines (such as Crohn’s disease or ulcerative colitis)

Purna Kashyap is a gastroenterologist at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota.

“We need to keep these colon-dwelling critters content,” Kashyap says. “When they gobble up food — and create the gas — they also make molecules that boost the immune system, protect the lining of the intestine and prevent infections.”

The most gas made by the microbiome is odorless. It’s simply carbon dioxide, hydrogen or methane. But sometimes a little sulfur slips in there.

“That’s when it gets smelly,” Kashyap says.

But here’s the hitch: Many of the smelly sulfur compounds in vegetables have healthful properties, begging this question.

Could passing gas, in some instances, be a sign that our gut microbes are busy keeping us healthy?

Being a bit gassy may be a small price to pay for large benefits to our health.

Common Symptom: Intestinal Bloating

You’ve been eating right. Exercising regularly. Drinking water and even taking your vitamins.

Bloating is uncomfortable, frustrating and quite common. It often comes with pain and embarrassing gas and wind.

Bloating Foods Not to Eat

The first simple step you can take is to reduce your consumption of some of the key “bloating foods”.

Processed grains

Gluten

Cow’s milk

Sugar and sweets

Alcohol

Processed fruit juices

Raw “above the ground” vegetables

You may want to consider purchasing the book, Fart-Free Food for Every Body, a cookbook featuring recipes for people with food intolerances, stomach issues and “a need for new flavors and kitchen jazz.”

Food Allergies: Modern Epidemic

Food allergies have become an epidemic in our modern world. Whereas a food allergy was considered an anomaly just a few decades ago, today one in 13 children in the United States suffers from a life-threatening anaphylactic food allergy.

Food allergies have increased about 50% in children since 1997. There are various theories explaining why.

One is that the 21st-century lifestyle, which includes a diet very different from our ancestors’, has profoundly changed the makeup of microbes in the gut of many people in developed countries.

And because it’s easier and generally safer to manipulate the gut than the brain, this knowledge provides the possibility that doing so could treat some chronic psychological and brain diseases.

The Gut: Our Second Brain

The gastrointestinal tract, or gut, is sometimes described as our “second brain” because it is controlled by its own complex nervous system, comprising hundreds of millions of neurons – more than all the nerves in your spinal cord.

Chronic, Silent Inflammation

All of us are at risk for chronic, silent inflammation because we live in a time of evolutionary mismatch.

Our modern lifestyles create incompatibilities between what our genes expect of us and what our world demands.

We eat foods that are processed beyond recognition, sit inside offices and cars most of the day and are exposed to thousands of modern chemicals. Inflammation is the result of these types of conflicts.

Encourage a Healthy Gut

Following a healthy diet is one way to encourage a healthy gastrointestinal tract. Base your diet on fruits and vegetables. Add fermented foods such as kefir and yogurt, for a natural source of probiotics.

Common Symptom: Fatigue

Chronic fatigue syndrome—a condition that continues to baffle doctors—may be influenced by a person’s intestinal bacteria.

Researchers found that people with chronic fatigue syndrome had higher levels of certain gut bacteria and lower levels of others compared to healthy people who didn’t have the condition.

The new research “is yet another study that proves this is not a psychological disease,” said Zaher Nahle, vice president for research and scientific programs at the Solve ME/CFS Initiative

Common Symptom: Headaches

According to the World Health Organization, two-thirds of all men and more than 80 percent of women in developed countries around the globe suffer from migraine headaches.

If you suffer from headaches, you may have tried a number of different approaches to get relief from your headaches including over the counteror prescription drugs.

You may even have experimented with alternative treatments such as chiropractic, massage, and acupuncture, but find that your headaches return.

Migraines: More Bacteria?

Studies show that migraine sufferers have higher levels of bacteria, known to process nitrates, which typically are found in processed meats, leafy vegetables and some wines which could explain why certain foods appear to act as migraine triggers.

Common Symptom: Skin Problems

One cause of skin problems such as acne is about as far away from the skin as one can get –the GI tract. There’s good reason to believe that the health of your skin depends on what happens in your gut.

Skin rashes are your body’s way of trying to dump the toxins through skin perforations.

We know from research that gut issues are more prevalent in people with skin conditions. And the same studies show that if you treat those gut issues you can expect your skin to clear faster.

Gut Health and Immunity

The “gut” is hardly cocktail party conversation, but interest in gut health is gaining momentum.

Not only is gut health a popular topic in scientific research circles, but nutritionists, foodies and of course, natural health practitioners are following developments as well.

Microbiome: A Rainforest

Think of the gut microbiome as a rainforest, filled with a rich diversity of plant life, a symbiotic ecosystem residing in your digestive tract.

But what happens if the balance is disrupted? The good plants begin to die, and the bad ones start to take over.

This happens in your gut – even just one dose of antibiotics can throw off the balance of beneficial bacteria used to keep your immune system running optimally.

The good get killed or greatly reduced, and the bad bacteria that used to be kept in check can take over and grow out of control.

Autoimmune Disease: A Case of Mistaken Identity

Over time, having this imbalance in your gut microbiome will lead to leaky gut, the condition where food particles, toxins, and infections leak through your intestinal lining and into your bloodstream.

This sends your immune system into high alert, targeting normal proteins as if they were harmful foreign invaders.

Many of these food particles, toxins and infections look very similar to our own body’s cells, and our immune system gets confused and accidentally attacks our tissues, which leads to autoimmunity.

Gut Health: The Key to Wellness

The importance of gut health is the key to overall wellness because the gut connects to so many parts of the body, including the brain and immune system.

The National Institutes of Health claims that 60-70 million people suffer from digestive diseases in the US alone, stemming from a combination of unhealthy lifestyle choices, an aging population and an increase in the number of people claiming to have intolerances.

Evidence of the role digestive health plays in overall well-being drives the medical and wellness industry to achieve a better understanding of this paradigm shift.

About the author

Suesan Sullivan

Suesan works as a Registrar for BayCare Health Systems in the Tampa Bay area of Florida. She has a master’s degree in education and loves teaching fitness to seniors as a certified Silver Sneakers instructor and educating the community about essential oils as a distributor for Young Living. Suesan is a freelance writer and voice over specialist. She spends her leisure time kayaking, hiking, biking and cultivating friendships. Her favorite saying is “Don’t just be good. Make good things happen!”